New Orleans Saints

It’s not as exciting to most casual fans as LeBron James thinking about running for the players union’s presidency, before ultimately backing off of those plans, as was expected. But the union needs new and experienced leadership during a transitionary phase that will see the Players Association add both a new president and a new…

UPDATE 5:39 p.m.: The family released a statement through a representative confirming that the cause of death was an apparent suicide. Anderson was the one who found Alleman in her home on Monday night, via Today.com. “The model’s boyfriend, Ryan Anderson, who plays for the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans, found Allemand in her New Orleans…

Justin Holiday was waived by the Sixers on Wednesday, reports Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The move was made in order for the team to avoid being on the hook for a portion of his salary next season. Had Holiday remained on the roster through August 15, his contract would have become partially guaranteed…

Sad news to relay out of New Orleans, where the girlfriend of the Pelicans’ Ryan Anderson has been hospitalized and is in critical condition following an undisclosed medical emergency. From Jennifer Hale of Fox Sports Southwest: The New Orleans Pelicans star 3-point shooter Ryan Anderson is at the bedside of his girlfriend, reality TV star…

Nick Calathes rated No. 6 in the 2009 NBA Draft, according to John Hollinger’s statistical system – behind only Ty Lawson, Blake Griffin, Tyreke Evans, Austin Daye* and Stephen Curry. Back then, there was nothing Hollinger could do about Calathes falling to No. 45 in the draft. Now an executive for the Grizzlies, Hollinger has…

There’s a formula for who often wins the Rookie of the year. They have to be a good player, certainly. More than that, he needs to be a player with the ball in his hands and on a team where he is going to be asked to take on a lot of responsibility. Damian Lillard…

Timberwolves rookie Shabazz Muhammad was sent home early from the NBA’s Rookie Transition Program for a blatant violation of the event’s rules. The infraction itself wasn’t at all that serious; Muhammad apparently had a female guest in his room hours after being informed that it wasn’t allowed. But rules are rules, and as a rookie…

Jrue Holiday with Eric Gordon could be one of the more interesting backcourts in the NBA. Throw in an improved Anthony Davis, Tyreke Evans at the three, Ryan Anderson to space the floor and suddenly that is a potentially dangerous team in the Big Easy. The question is how much Gordon can do? He wasn’t…

The 76ers, for my money, had one of the best offseasons in the NBA. Jrue Holiday for Nerlens Noel and a 2014 first-round pick was a great trade, one that gave Philadelphia clear direction. In their rebuilding efforts, the 76ers made a few other small moves: drafting Michael Carter-Williams, trading for Royce White and Furkan…

Here is our regular look around the NBA — links to stories worth reading and notes to check out (stuff that did not get its own post here at PBT) — done in bullet point form. Because I love bullet points more than I love a good Phó (and I do love a good Phó)…. • When…

The New Orleans Pelicans officially unveiled their uniforms for the upcoming season, and the simple design is underwhelming, at best. No sign of the Pelicans logo, and no bright or interesting color scheme. Just the city’s name on the front of both the home and away jerseys, with some gold trim making its way down…

When USA Basketball held its four-day mini-camp in Las Vegas last week, Roy Hibbert was a noticeable omission from the roster. There’s a reason, of course, and it has nothing to do with Hibbert’s level of talent or ability to commit to the program. The fact that he’s played for another country in the past,…

When Jrue Holiday was traded, it felt like a trade countdown clock started over Evan Turner’s head — he was the logical next to go. Spencer Hawes and Thaddeus Young are on that list, too, but Turner has real value around the league. Plus, Sixers GM Sam Hinkie has said he’s not done shaking up…

A couple years ago the Philadelphia 76ers looked like an up-and-coming team — Doug Collins had them playing good defense, they had Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner to go with Andre Iguodala. There was some reason for hope… then the gamble on Andrew Bynum went bad. Very bad. Now the Sixers are rebuilding and Holiday…

When the Sixers moved Jrue Holiday on draft night, the plan of new GM Sam Hinkie became clear — they were going to get worse to get better. Philly is not going to be good this year, but they will have two first round draft picks (theirs and New Orleans, so long as that isn’t…

We already brought you some Jamal Crawford and Tyreke Evans highlights from the Seattle pro-am. So how about some more from Seattle native Isaiah Thomas. He dropped 49 in his game and put on a ball handling display that shows why the Kings have a good one-two punch at the point (with Greivis Vasquez). Hat tip…

The end of the Seattle pro-am this weekend came down to Jamal Crawford and Tyreke Evans trading shots. Good news for Pelicans fans — Tyreke Evans was knocking down some outside shots and looked pretty good. But that would be Crawford with your dramatic game winner. Hat tip to SLAM and Ball is Life. And…

This summer saw Dwight Howard find a new home, the Clippers and Pacers add depth, and a few other teams making bold moves to get better (or, in some cases, worse intentionally). So how did all this impact the PBT Power Rankings? Glad you asked. Here is where things stand this summer (the number in…

The FIBA World Cup – the basketball World Championships coming to Spain next summer — don’t play as big in the United States as the Olympics. It can get overlooked… unless Team USA loses, then newspaper columnists who hadn’t given the thing a sideways glance will pontificate on how this is some kind of disaster.…

We showed you the other highlights out of Thursday night’s Team USA scrimmage, but this was the best play of the night: A windmill dunk by a young U.S. Airman in full fatigues and wearing boots. If you can dunk like that wearing all that gear, you got hops. Sir, we salute you.

Newly minted, soon to be inducted Hall of Famer Gary Payton is a Damian Lillard fan. “I like Damian Lillard because he’s from Oakland, California, and he’s a phenomenal basketball player,” Payton told ProBasketballTalk last January. “He should be the rookie of the year, he’s playing very well right now for Portland and I love…

It was a gamble, but I still contend at the time the Philadelphia 76ers made a good one — they had a chance to get Andrew Bynum fresh off a season where he played in 60 of 66 games (it was the lockout year), averaged 18.7 points and 11.8 rebounds a game, and shot 55.8…

How big an extension would you give DeMarcus Cousins? If you are paying on potential, he’s a max player no doubt. And if the Kings don’t give him the max this summer another team almost certainly will next summer when he is a restricted free agent. Then the Kings will match it and all that…

LAS VEGAS — Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis were the stars of the USA Basketball showcase on Thursday, but this dunk from Harrison Barnes might have been the night’s greatest highlight. Ryan Anderson was victimized here, and while Barnes finished with 18 points in just 13 minutes, 10 of those came in the fourth quarter…

LAS VEGAS — The White team beat the Blue team 128-106 in the USA Basketball intra-squad showcase that put a bow on a four-day mini-camp held in Las Vegas this week, but the event was about anything but this game’s final score. The powers that be were looking for mostly intangibles from players in terms…